Worth The Trouble: Rewrite
by midnight leo
Summary: Rewritten and Improved. Old version to be taken down. "Can I ask you a question, Natsume?" "You already did." "Don't be a smartass, Slanted Eyes." In which Mikan asks Natsume if he wants to fall in love and Natsume decides he'll make an exception for her because she's definitely worth the trouble. But, seriously, did he have to ruin the moment by peeking at her underwear again?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or its characters.**

**A/N:** Hey people. Here's a rewrite of _**Worth The Trouble**_. Again, the first one was poorly done and rushed. I've been itching to fix it for so long XD. I'll delete the first version in a little while.

After this, I'll post the next chapter of _**Bliss**_ (Yes it's almost finished! ^W^) and then the next chapter of _**Have you Forgotten. **_Thank you for all the support you've given me!__I hope you enjoy this version!

Finals finished. More time for fanfics XD

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_**Worth The Trouble**_

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Mikan Sakura did not know if she should label herself lucky.

Ignoring the pointed glares of half of the female population in the classroom (perhaps more, she got used to it after a while, after all, it wasn't limited to her year level), she allowed her gaze to rest on the _sole _reason why the female population wanted to kill her.

Raven hair, crimson red eyes, handsome face and reading a manga without a care in the world-_Natsume Hyuuga. _

_He looks handsome as usual. She thought, admiring her seat mate not so subtlety._

She didn't know if she was lucky or not. Here she was, sitting next to Alice Academy's heartthrob (girls would kill for her place), not to mention he was her partner (Well, here, girls would kill _her._)

Sitting next to a guy _this _attractive should have made her lucky, right?

Being his partner (cough, through force, cough) should have made her luckier, right?

Right?

"What're you staring at, Polka?" He asked monotonously, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the comic. She squeaked, looking away, red rising to her cheeks because he _saw_ her staring at him.

"N-nothing." She stuttered, pointedly disregarding his "affectionate" nickname for her.

Polka. Really.

He glanced at her, raising a brow before resuming his reading. Looking as apathetic as ever, she noticed with little mirth.

She sucked in a breath, unknowingly gazing at him again. She couldn't help it. Despite his stoic face, (she had long gotten used to Hotaru) he had a really, really kind hear-

"I'll melt Polka. I'll melt. Stop staring." He murmured, now looking at her straight in the eyes.

_Damn._

She wanted to smack herself right now. No wonder Hotaru made it a point to hit her with a Baka Gun; she always found ways to embarrass herself.

Turning away, she murmured a small apology.

That was then Mikan Sakura decided that she was not lucky; getting seated next to the guy she _really, really, really_ liked (loved) made her more of an idiot than usual.  
XXX

Natsume Hyuuga could see that she was staring at him.

It was hard not to notice, (she sat beside him, after all); that and she was blatantly _looking _at him.

It was then and there when Natsume felt a blush creeping onto his face; one he successfully fought down. (He had a good poker face)

This brought feelings to him. Feelings he had long accepted, from when the brunette became his light, whether willingly or unwillingly, intentionally or not.

He feigned ignorance for the while; he wanted to see just how long she would keep looking at him like that.

He dared to hope; maybe she liked him too? Even just a bit?

He loved the chocolate eyed girl dearly.

He didn't think he'd fall in love with anybody. Girls brought him headaches, and seeing the things that happened to people in love-well, it was just plain troublesome.

Tripping over yourself, stuttering, blushing, break ups, make ups…yep, just plain troublesome.

That is, until she came along; waltzed into his life and caught his heart without really knowing.

Mikan was ridiculously cute and honest; kind and gentle; unlike majority of the girls who vied for his attention.

_Mikan Sakura._ Such a unique girl, yep, the only one who wore strange underwear patterns…

He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

Yep, still staring.

He decided that he did not want to be observed like a specimen and promptly-without his eyes straying from the book-he asked:

"What're you staring at, Polka?"

She squeaked and replied: "N-nothing…" He glanced at her.

He found the blush adorable on her face. And just after that little confrontation, she began to look at him again and he decided to tease her.

"I'll melt Polka. I'll melt. Stop staring."

An embarrassed look crossed over her face and she promptly mumbled an apology.

He could feel his lips twitch. She was just too cute.

He decided he would make an exception. Just for her, because, well, she was _Mikan Sakura._

XXX

Mikan wondered when it had begun.

She didn't think she'd fall for _him_ of all people-Really, back then, she thought she'd fall in love with Ruka in a heartbeat! Or Tsubasa. Or Tono. Or Koko.

Just never him; they had hated each other, hadn't they? And wasn't he the reason why she couldn't ever get married anymore? (Stupid, lovable, panty peeking pervert…)

And then the world decided to do a 180 on them both. Circumstances led from one thing to another, and bam, they became unannounced frienemies. (Their friends said otherwise-told her there was something else between them.) Better than before, it was a very large improvement from their relationship back then.

And now…after a while…she found that she liked him. A lot. Loved him, probably.

But then came the sinking feeling in her gut.

_He probably didn't feel the same way._

Mikan saw herself as someone who wasn't pretty, nor intelligent, nor athletic- (Oh, if only she knew how many were trying to get her attention but nah, she was too dense.) and Natsume was near perfect. (God, screw him for that.)

Why would Natsume want somebody like her? Not to mention he hasn't shown _any interest _in the opposite gender…

Ah…Should she be worried?

.

.

.

Nah, he wouldn't be that much of a pervert if he wasn't interested in women.

Still. That didn't change the fact that he only probably saw her as his 'frienemy' who he dubbed as 'Polka'.

Dejectedly, she decided to let her feet take her anywhere.

XXX

Unsurprisingly, her feet led her to the sakura trees.

She walked up to the largest one and found him there, face still buried in an unnamed manga (the cover was blurred from her point of view). She smiled softly to herself.

_Well, I should at least ask if he has somebody he likes. She thought._

"Hey, Natsume. Can I sit next to you?" She asked.  
He replied with a noncommittal "Hn" which she took as a yes. Sitting down next to him, she gazed up at the pale pink petals slowly falling.

"Ne, Natsume, can I ask you a question?" She said softly, reaching out to trap a petal between her fingers.

"You already did." He answered. She glared half heartedly.

"Don't be a smart ass, Slanted Eyes." She muttered. He raised a brow.

"PMS-ing, polka?"

He was answered with a thwack on his head.

She pouted and sighed. "Whatever, just answer…" She said, leaning against the tree trunk again.

"Do you want to fall in love, Natsume?" She inquired, staring up once more at the pink sakura petals. Natsume shrugged, placing down his manga.

"No." He replied. "It's too troublesome."

_Ouch. Well. At least that's answered._ Mikan looked crestfallen at his response and only replied with a meek "I see then…"

_Troubled, Mikan? _

"But…" He began thoughtfully, gazing at her. She shifted her attention towards him and found him smirking at her.

"But if it's you, I'll make an exception. You're worth the trouble." He said, taking a lock of her hair and twirling it around his finger. Her breath caught in her throat as he looked intently into her eyes.

"I…was that supposed to be an indirect confession?" She asked.

He blinked. "It was. But I'll be more direct." She gaped at him.

"I love you." Was all he said and then suddenly his lips covered hers in a gentle kiss. Pulling away, he asked huskily: "What's your answer then?"

Her heart beat hard against her chest and she struggled to find her voice. She didn't think this was real; maybe she was in a dream; maybe she fell asleep during class and now-

"Mikan." He murmured, bringing her out of her reverie.

"I…why do you love me?" She asked in a small voice. She felt as if her face would permanently turn red.

"Because you're you, Mikan." He answered without skipping a beat. "You don't know just how much you mean to me…"

He cupped her face. "Does that answer you?"

She nodded, still blushing. "Yes…" Taking a deep breath, she faced him directly.

"I love you, Natsume."

He half smiled, standing up and offering his hand to her. The wind blew around them hard.

"Mhmm…I love you too, cherries." He said in a flat voice but amusement was dancing in his crimson orbs.

Mikan was confused. What did he mean by that? It wasn't until she stood up that she realized one very important thing. She stared at him, wide eyed and he smirked at her.

Five

Four

Three

Two

One

The calm serenity the school had was momentarily shattered by a shrill voice.

"PERVERT!"

_Some things just never change._

.

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End

Hope you enjoyed.

Please review.

Midnight Leo


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